A Stones Throw 11-24-16

With tomorrow being Thanksgiving, I am especially thankful for Jade, my wife of 50 plus years, my son Kevin, daughter Kelly, their spouses and their children. I couldn’t be more proud or more thankful to be a part of their lives as they are a part of mine.

Obviously, I am thankful that the Cubs are no longer the team that hasn’t won a World Series in 108 years. Now, let’s do it again.

I am also thankful the 2016 elections are over.

I have to admit before the election I thought America would be in trouble if Donald Trump won. Of course, I also thought America would be in trouble if Hillary Clinton won.

Right – I didn’t like either candidate.

I also didn’t like the Electoral College process. It just seems wrong that the state of California has more electoral votes (55) than the combined total of 15 less populous states. I just feel that allowing the states with high population urban areas significantly more electoral power skews the power in Washington D.C. against the less urban areas.

I still think the Electoral College is flawed.

But, not as much as just accepting the popular vote.

As I write this, with some votes still being counted throughout the country, Hillary Clinton leads in popular votes by 1.4 million votes. Hillary Clinton supporters and Donald Trump haters – they are not always the same – have taken to the streets demanding among other things that the popular vote be respected – the Electoral College rejected.

Not only do I disagree, but this “popular vote” has made me appreciate the Electoral College concept – at least a bit.

As I noted above, California’s 55 Electoral votes are more than the combined total of 15 other states. So, what happens if we eliminate the Electoral College in favor of just using the popular vote?

What if we just used the popular vote this year?

The answer is easy – Clinton would have won.

America would have lost!

But, not for the reason one might think.

Again, as I write this, Clinton leads the popular vote by 1.4 million votes. Also, as I write this, Clinton leads the popular vote in California by over 3 million votes.

This means Trump leads the combined popular vote in the other 49 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico by 1.6 million votes.

In other words, those who point at Clinton’s popular vote lead are basically calling for a government determined solely by California voters.

As for me, I don’t care between Clinton and Trump – but, I don’t want one state to be able to determine a national election. We call it a national election because it is supposed to be determined by and represented by the entire nation.

Not just the state of California.

Having said that, I have to admit that while I really did not like either candidate, I am now glad Donald Trump won – not because of his policies. Certainly not because of his rhetoric.

In fact, I fear he will take America backwards in many ways.

So, why am I glad Trump won?

Because the protests – the riots – show me the lawlessness of Clinton believers and Trump haters. Every night I see news reports of interstates being blocked by protesters, by cars being upended and burned, by windows being broken, and by police officers being assaulted and abused.

When President Obama was elected – twice, there were a lot of people that did not like the outcome of either election. But, I don’t remember any protests or riots. I don’t remember the media, entertainers, or athletes demonstrating because they didn’t like the outcome of the election.

I guess all those terrible conservatives were just lazy.

Instead of taking to the streets, they just resolved to work harder for the next election.

Today, many who two months ago knew Hillary Clinton would be the next President and were decrying the Trump comments that said he might not accept a Clinton victory without review are now not accepting a Trump victory.

I don’t need a government designed by those who protest and riot when they don’t get their way.

I also am getting tired of all the false information being floated on social media.

Recently, Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, while recognizing the ever increasing amount of fake news that appears on Facebook claimed that he does not think the election was influenced by all the fake news and information that appeared on social media.

If you believe that, I have some oceanfront land in Indiana to sell. (Or maybe the Pence Bridge.)

In today’s society, social media has become the primary source of information for millions of people.

I don’t follow most social media, but I do follow Facebook. In doing so, I saw, and continue to see, many, many news reports that were/are designed to destroy the credibility of either Clinton or Trump.

As I stated earlier, I didn’t like either candidate, but neither candidate deserved to be vilified by false information.

While a little research would have shown most of those vicious stories to be false, I doubt that many took the time or effort to check.

It is just easier believe and hate.

I fear for the future of America.

We are evolving from a time period where one political party blocked every effort of the other party. We are evolving from a time where a President had to use executive orders in an effort to get what he wanted.

We are in a time period of lawlessness, of disregard for authority, of divisiveness, and of belief in the unbelievable.

We are in a time period where Black pride is good, Mexican pride is good, Muslim pride is good, but, White pride is racist.

We are in a time period where men and women in law enforcement have become targets of assassins – because in killing police officers the assassin is making a political statement – so, “it is okay”

A time period where our military is looked down on – not looked up to.

A time period where those who work for a living are considered the enemy, but are expected to pay for the benefits of those who do not work.

We are evolving to a time where both houses of Congress and our President will all represent the same political party.

That might be good – but, I fear it might be worse than the gridlock of the past eight years.

Time will tell.

In the meantime, take time tomorrow, and every day, to show (and tell) those closest to you that you love and appreciate them.